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New Trails in Agbiotech

Quebec is also blazing new trails in agbiotech, especially in the field of nutraceutical and functional foods. Once a textile town, St. Hyacinthe, (www.cld-lesmaskoutains.qc.ca) the agri-food capital of the province, has been the home of Canada's largest agri-food research center, the Food Research and Development Center (FRDC at http://sci.agr.ca/crda), since 1986. Half of this sprawling center is taken up by a pilot plant that enables successful scale-up to industrial production of new products. It includes a sensory evaluation lab where color, texture and taste can be evaluated. Scientists are working, for example, on the grading of maple syrup.

The FRDC's latest coups include the Oléanergie norm for producing 70 percent leaner chicken, a project that involved dieticians, veterinarians, and specialists in electrotechnology, meat quality, sensory evaluation and pilot processes. A pilot oven for baking tests was also developed with Culinar and Hydro Quebec.

"The FRDC works in partnership with the industry, explains research scientist Edward Farnworth, who heads the Bio-ingredients section, one of four sections at the center. "In full operation, up to 200 work at the FRDC, where we have only 85 full-time staff."

Farnworth for one has worked more recently on kefir, fermented milk originally from the Caucasus region, and kombucha (fermented tea). "The field of functional foods is a new one, one that will force us to widen our network further with clinical tests having to be conducted if manufacturers are to substantiate the claims of their products," he adds.

The FRDC plans a biotech incubator within its walls and, in partnership with the nearby Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Université de Montréal, recently created the Veterinary and Food Biotechnology Institute (IBVA).

Building on the presence of the FRDC, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Université de Montréal and a host of research, educational and governmental institutions and companies (now 120 strong) in the agri-food industry, the city created in the early 1990s the St. Hyacinthe Science Park, accredited by the International Assn. of Science Parks (IASP). St. Hyacinthe is now taking it one step further with the projected City of Agri-Food Biotechnology, where 10 million sq. ft. (929,030 sq. m.) have been set aside for future development.

Another center to be reckoned in agricultural research is Université Laval in Quebec City. Laval was instrumental in the creation of the Institut de Recherche sur les Aliments Fonctionnels et les Nutraceutiques (IRAFN), an $11.6 million project inaugurated in 1999.